On Boxing Day, Geoff Hill will be at the helm of Genuine Risk and lined up with the rest of a large fleet for the start of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. He will be hoping it is a case of lucky 13 for him.
'I have raced the Sydney-Hobart 12 times, winning in 2006 on handicap on Love And War. But this time I hope to grab line honours, because traditionally the winner of the race is always the boat which crosses the finish line first,' says Hill.
Buoyed by the success of his newly purchased Genuine Risk, a Dubois 90 Maxi which won line honours at the Rolex China Sea Race from Hong Kong to Manila over Easter weekend, Australian Hill, 65, has set his sights on winning the famous Sydney-Hobart classic outright. 'I believe we have a good team and most of the crew has previously done Hobart,' the Hong Kong-based Hill said. 'I also think Genuine Risk, following her wins in the Newport Bermuda Race and other events [before he bought her] is a serious contender among the bigger boats in offshore races.' Built in 2004 as state of the art at a cost exceeding US$8 million, Genuine Risk was 'picked up for a song' by Hill last year. He was amazed she had been so lightly raced 'with only 1,200 hours on the clock, which is less than 50 days'.
A blue-water racing buff, Hill, a merchant banker, hopes to remedy that. And he got off to the best possible start, clinching line honours on the 50th anniversary of the China Sea Race even though he couldn't quite break the race record set by Karl Kwok's Beau Geste in 2000.
Now he has set his sights on the 628 nautical mile race from Sydney to Hobart, which gets off to tremendous fanfare every year on the day following Christmas.
Hill will have at his side Syd Fischer, who sailed with him on Genuine Risk in the China Sea Race. Fischer, 84, is one of the most experienced offshore sailors, with 40 Hobarts, winning the race a number of times on his boat Ragamuffin. Hill can also draw upon the experience of another seasoned Hobart campaigner in David Witt. But while encouraged by the China Sea Race performance, Hill is well aware that the Sydney-Hobart is a different beast.
'It is one of the most challenging races in the world,' he said.